§ Mr. Richard Shepherdasked the Lord Privy Seal how many British companies have been affected by the policy of the Nigerian Government to nationalise a percentage of foreign-owned companies; and if he is satisfied with the arrangements for compensation and for the transmission of such compensation to the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. BlakerA list of 993 foreign enterprises affected by the Nigerian enterprises promotion decree of 1977 was published334W by the Nigerian authorities on 6 April 1978: a copy has been placed in the Library. I regret that information on which of the companies listed involves British interests is not readily available, and could not be provided without disproportionate cost. The decree required all foreign-owned companies to sell a proportion of their shares to Nigerian citizens. So far as I am aware, nearly all the firms involved have now complied with the decree, and in no case have we been asked to make formal representations.